コロナ禍中のサンフランシスコ。
変わり果てた街街の様子。
今年2月以来7カ月ぶりの訪問となりました。
ダウンタウンでは小売店の多くが閉鎖したまま、1階のガラス窓は防壁の木材が貼られています。
中心街に近づくほど人々の出足は鈍く、ビジネスはより大きなダメージを受けているのが見て取れます。
特に西海岸の心臓部、この街の金融街には日中全く人気がありません。ホワイトカラーの労働者はみんな自宅でオンラインで仕事してるのだそうです。
私の関係者も2割から3割ほどが撤退しています。
ただお会いした人々にはさほど悲壮感はなく、これからも生きていくぞと言うたくましさか、なるようにしかならないと言う諦観のようなところから来る底力を感じました。
お互いの近況を報告し合いながら、尚も神が最善へと導いてくださることを確認し合うことができました。
週末の夕方ともなれば常にごった返しているサンフランシスコ空港がガラガラな点は得した感じです。
セキュリティーチェックですら周囲には誰もなくいなくて、持ち時間は0。
飛行機も遅延なくスケジュール通りに運行です。
3列席の真ん中席をソーシャルディスタンスとして空席にしてくれています。
ストレスフリーで移動ができるのはコロナの恩恵でした。
"この苦しみのときに彼らが主に向かって叫ぶと主は彼らを苦悩から導き出された。
主が嵐を鎮められると波は穏やかになった。
波が凪いだので彼らは喜んだ。主は彼らをその望む港に導かれた。
主に感謝せよ。その恵みのゆえに。人の子らへの奇しいみわざのゆえに。"
詩篇 107篇28~31節
San Francisco in the midst of the corona crisis.
The changing face of the city streets.
It's been seven months since February of this year.
Many of the retail stores downtown remain closed, and the ground floor glass windows are covered with bulletproof wood.
The closer you get to the center of the city, the slower people turn out, and you can see that business is taking a greater toll.
The financial district of the city, the heart of the West Coast, is not popular at all during the day.All the white collar workers are working online from home.
About 20% to 30% of the people I work with have left the city.
However, the people I met were not so sad, and I felt their resilience, which comes from either a resignation that they will continue to live, or a resignation that there is nothing but what will be.
We were able to report back to each other on what we were doing, and yet we were able to confirm that God was leading us to the best.
It was a blessing that the San Francisco airport, which is always crowded on weekend evenings, was not so busy.
Even the security check point was empty and there was no one around me and I had zero time to spare.
The flight was on schedule with no delays.
They have left the middle seat in the middle of row 3 empty as social distance.
It was a blessing to have a stress-free trip due to Corona.
“Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
and he brought them out of their distress.
He stilled the storm to a whisper;
the waves of the sea were hushed.
They were glad when it grew calm,
and he guided them to their desired haven.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind.“
Psalm 107:28-30
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